[A feeling of coherence and delayed sequelae of post-traumatic stress in persons persecuted for political reasons in Poland in the years 1944-56].

The paper presents the results of research of 100 persons persecuted for political reasons in Poland in the years 1944-56. The research aims to study the relations between the level of Sense of Coherence and delayed effects of post-traumatic stress disorder in personal functioning (which is manifested by anxiety, depression, lack of meaning of life, and low well-being), and in interpersonal functioning. Introduction of this article presents the problems connected with delayed effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, and the general principle of Antonovsky's salutogenic concept also characterizes the sense of coherence category (SOC). SOC is a generalized, long-lasting feeling of confidence that the world is comprehensible (internal and external environments are structured, predictable, and explicable). People with a high level of SOC see their life as having some purpose and that their life is worthy of personal investments, and see themselves as having the personal resources to cope with the difficulties. The data was collected with using: The Sense of Coherence Questionnaire, PTSD-Interview, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Purpose in Life Test, The Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) Index, and The Scale of Interpersonal Relationships. The results indicate that the strength of the sense of coherence is negatively correlated with level of anxiety, depression, enmity syndrome, and positive with meaning of life, psychological well-being, and pro-social relationships. The research confirmed the important role of a sense of coherence (SOC) in modifying experience of delayed consequences of post-traumatic stress in victims of political persecution.